Quantum computing and thinking like a physicist

By Luther Martin —
July 24, 2012

I've managed to do first two lectures and the first homework assignment for Coursera's class on quantum mechanics and quantum computation. And although it was hard for me to do, I actually tried to think like a physicist while doing the homework assignment. This means doing things like not jumping in and doing long calculations when there are easier approaches like taking advantage of symmetry or ignoring unphysical solutions to equations.

I was quite surprised that it actually worked.

I still don't trust that approach enough to rely on it, so I'll probably still be using long and tedious calculations as my first approach to things, but that might actually be changing over the next few weeks. If I can actually break myself of that habit, this free class will actually end up being fairly valuable.

Unfortunately, it's entirely possible that I won't be able to find the time to complete this particular class, so I'll have to make an effort to think like a physicist while I still have the opportunity to do so.